High Court

List of High Courts of India

Law of India

Administration

Civil courts

Criminal courts

Executive Court

Legal profession

Legal education

There are 24 High Courts at the state and union territory level of India which, together with the Supreme Court of India at the national level, comprise the country’s judicial system. Each High Court has jurisdiction over a state, a union territory or a group of states and union territories. Below the High Courts is a hierarchy of subordinate courts such as the civil courts, family courts, criminal courts and various other district courts. High Courts are instituted as constitutional courts under Part VI, Chapter V, Article 214 of theIndian Constitution. The High Courts are the principal civil courts of original jurisdiction in each state and union territory. However, a High Court exercises its original civil and criminal jurisdiction only if the subordinate courts are not authorized by law to try such matters for lack of pecuniary, territorial jurisdiction. High courts may also enjoy original jurisdiction in certain matters if so designated specifically in a state or federal law.

However, the work of most High Courts primarily consists of appeals from lower courts and writ petitions in terms of Article 226 of the constitution. Writ jurisdiction is also original jurisdiction of High Court. The precise territorial jurisdiction of each High Court varies. The appeal order is the following: tehsil-kotwali-criminal/civil courts – district – high court – supreme court.

Each state is divided into judicial districts presided over by a District and Sessions Judge. He is known as a District Judge when he presides over a civil case, and a Sessions Judge when he presides over a criminal case. He is the highest judicial authority below a High Court judge. Below him, there are courts of civil jurisdiction, known by different names in different states. Under Article 141 of the Constitution, all courts in India (which includes High Courts) are bound by the judgments and orders of the Supreme Court of India by precedence.

Judges in a High Court are appointed by the President of India in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the governor of the state. High Courts are headed by a Chief Justice. The Chief Justices are ranked fourteenth (in their state) and seventeenth (outside their state) in the Indian order of precedence. The number of judges in a court is decided by dividing the average institution of main cases during the last five years by the national average, or the average rate of disposal of main cases per judge per year in that High Court, whichever is higher.

The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in the country, established on 2 July 1862. High Courts that handle a large number of cases of a particular region have permanent benches established there. Benches are also present in states which come under the jurisdiction of a court outside its territorial limits. Smaller states with few cases may have circuit benches established. Circuit benches (known as circuit courts in some parts of the world) are temporary courts which hold proceedings for a few selected months in a year. Thus cases built up during this interim period are judged when the circuit court is in session. According to a study conducted by Bengaluru-based NGO Daksh on 21 high courts in collaboration with Ministry of Law and Justice (India) in March 2016, it was found that average pendency of a case in High courts in India is 3 years.

Contents

1High Courts

2High Courts by States/Union Territories

3Courts under High Court

High Courts

The Madras High Court in Chennai, Bombay High Court in Mumbai, Calcutta High Court in Kolkata and Allahabad High Court in Allahabad are the oldest four High Courts in India.

The following are the 24 High Courts of India sorted by name, year established, Act by which it was established, jurisdiction, headquarters, benches, the maximum number of judges sanctioned and the presiding Chief Justice of the High Court.

The Bombay High Court in Mumbai, one of the first four High Courts of India

The Calcutta High Court in Kolkata, one of the first four High Courts of India

The Allahabad High Court in Allahabad, one of the first four High Courts of India

The Karnataka High Court in Bengaluru

The Gujarat High Courtin Ahmedabad

The High Court of Judicature at Hyderabadin Hyderabad

A working day view of The Kerala High Court inKochi

State or UT

Court

Principal Seat/(Bench having jurisdiction of the State)

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Calcutta High Court

Kolkata (Bench at Port Blair)

Arunachal Pradesh

Gauhati High Court

Guwahati (Bench at Itanagar)

Andhra Pradesh

High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad

Hyderabad

Assam

Gauhati High Court

Guwahati

Bihar

Patna High Court

Patna

Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh High Court

Bilaspur

Chandigarh

Punjab and Haryana High Court

Chandigarh

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

Bombay High Court

Mumbai

Daman and Diu

Bombay High Court

Mumbai

National Capital Territory of Delhi

Delhi High Court

New Delhi

Goa

Bombay High Court

Mumbai (Bench at Panaji)

Gujarat

Gujarat High Court

Ahmedabad

Haryana

Punjab and Haryana High Court

Chandigarh

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh High Court

Shimla

Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir High Court

Srinagar/Jammu

Jharkhand

Jharkhand High Court

Ranchi

Karnataka

Karnataka High Court

Bengaluru (Bench at Dharwad and Gulbarga)

Kerala

Kerala High Court

Kochi

Lakshadweep

Kerala High Court

Kochi

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh High Court

Jabalpur (Bench at Gwalior and Indore)

Maharashtra

Bombay High Court

Mumbai (Bench at Aurangabad and Nagpur)

Manipur

Manipur High Court

Imphal

Meghalaya

Meghalaya High Court

Shillong

Mizoram

Gauhati High Court

Guwahati (Bench at Aizawl)

Nagaland

Gauhati High Court

Guwahati (Bench at Kohima)

Odisha

Odisha High Court

Cuttack

Puducherry

Madras High Court

Chennai

Punjab

Punjab and Haryana High Court

Chandigarh

Rajasthan

Rajasthan High Court

Jodhpur (Bench at Jaipur)

Sikkim

Sikkim High Court

Gangtok

Tamil Nadu

Madras High Court

Chennai (Bench at Madurai)

Telangana

High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad

Hyderabad

Tripura

Tripura High Court

Agartala

Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand High Court

Nainital

Uttar Pradesh

Allahabad High Court

Allahabad (Bench at Lucknow)

West Bengal

Calcutta High Court

Kolkata

Courts under High Court

District Courts of India

District Munsiff Court

Courts of Judicial Magistrate of First Class

Courts of Judicial Magistrate of Second Class

District Courts of India

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Judiciary of India

Law of India

Administration

Civil courts

Criminal courts

Executive Court

Legal profession

Legal education

The District Courts (Hindi: जिला न्यायालय) of India are the district courts of the State governments in India for every district or for one or more districts together taking into account the number of cases, population distribution in the district. They administer justice in India at a district level. These courts are under administrative control of the High Court of the State to which the district concerned belongs. The decisions of District court is subject to the appellate jurisdiction of the High court.

Contents

1Composition of District courts

2Appointment and removal

3Jurisdiction

4State-wise District Courts

Composition of District courts

A court complex at Guntur.

The highest court in each district is that of the District and Sessions Judge. This is the principal court of original civil jurisdiction besides High Court of the State and which derives its jurisdiction in civil matters primarily from the code of civil procedure. The district court is also a court of Sessions when it exercises its jurisdiction on criminal matters under Code of Criminal procedure. The district court is presided over by one District Judge appointed by the state Government. In addition to the district judge there may be number of Additional District Judges and Assistant District Judges depending on the workload. The Additional District Judge and the court presided have equivalent jurisdiction as the District Judge and his district court. However, the district judge has supervisory control over Additional and Assistant District Judges, including decisions on allocation of work among them. The District and Sessions judge is often referred to as “district judge” when he presides over civil matters and “sessions judge” when he presides over criminal matters. Being the highest judge at district level, the District Judge also enjoys the power to manage the state funds allocated for the development of judiciary in the district.

The district judge is also called “Metropolitan session judge” when he is presiding over a district court in a city which is designated “Metropolitan area” by the state Government. Other courts subordinated to district court in the Metropolitan area are also referred to with “metropolitan” prefixed to the usual designation. An area is designated a metropolitan area by the concerned state Government if population of the area exceeds one million or more than that.

Appointment and removal

The judges of subordinate courts are appointed by the Governor in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court of the concerned State. A minimum of seven years of practise as a lawyer at bar is a necessary qualification. Upon a written examination and oral interview by a committee of High court judges, the appointment of district judges is notified by the state Government. This is referred to as direct recruitment. District judges are also appointed by way of elevation of judges from courts subordinate to district courts provided they fulfill the minimum years of service.

The next level of ascendancy for a district judge who served sufficient number of years is the post of High court judge. High court Judges are usually appointed from a pool of advocates practising at the Bar of the High court and District Judges who served for sufficient number of years.

A district judge or Additional judge may be removed from his office by the state Government in consultation with the High court. By virtue of his office a district judge often occupies privileged position in the district alongside administrative heads of the district like the collector.

Jurisdiction

The District Court or Additional District court exercises jurisdiction both on original side and appellate side in civil and criminal matters arising in the District. The territorial and pecuniary jurisdiction in civil matters is usually set in concerned state enactments on the subject of civil courts. On the criminal side, jurisdiction is exclusively derived from thecriminal procedure code. As per this code the maximum sentence a Sessions Judge of district court may award to a convict is capital punishment.

Certain matters on criminal side or civil side cannot be tried by a lesser court than a district court. This gives the District Court original jurisdiction in such matters.

Appeals from the district courts lie to the High Court of the concerned state.

List of district courts of India

There are total 600 District courts in India. The incomplete list of District courts in India is as follows.

Contents

1States

2Union territories

States

Andhra Pradesh(23)

Adilabad

Anantpur

Chittor

Cuddapah

Eluru

Guntur

Hyderabad

Hyderabad

Kakinada

Karimnagar

Khammam

Kurnool

Machilipatnam

Medak

Mehboobnagar

Nalgonda

Nallore

Nizamabad

Prakasam

Srikakulam

Vishakhapatnam

Vizianagaram

Warangal

Assam(23)

Bongaigaon

Darrang

Dibrugarh

Kazimganj

Morigaon

Tinsukia

Dhemaji

Chhattisgarh(16)

Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh

Goa(2)

Panaji

Madgaon

Madhya Pradesh(48)

Bhopal

vidisha

Maharashtra(35)

Akola

Aurangabad

Chandrapur

Jalgaon

Kolhapur

Mumbai

Mumbai (Bandra)

Nagpur

Nanded

Nashik

Pune

Solapur

Thane

Odisha(01)

Rayagada

Uttarakhand(13)

Dehradun

Haridwar

Nainatal

Rudraprayag

Uttar Pradesh(70)

Allahabad

Faizabad

Ghaziabad

Gorakhpur

Kanpur

Etawah

Lucknow

Varanasi

Jaunpur

Bareilly

Muzaffarnagar

Meerut

Shamli

Saharanpur

Tamil Nadu(29)

Chennai

Trichy

Rajasthan(33)

Ajmer

Alwar

Banswara

Baran

Barmer

Bharatpur

Bhilwara

Bikaner

Bundi

Chittorgarh

Churu

Dausa

Dholpur

Dungarpur

Hanumangarh

Jaipur

Jaisalmer

Jalor

Jhalawar

Jhunjhunu

Jodhpur

Karauli

Kota

Nagaur

Pali

Pratapgarh

Rajsamand

Sawai Madhopur

Sikar

Sirohi

Sri Ganganagar

Tonk

Udaipur

Gujarat(26)

Ahmedabad

Amreli

Anand

Banaskantha (Palanpur)

Bhavnagar

Dahod

Junagadh

West Bengal(23)

Union territories

Chandigarh(1)

Chandigarh

Dadra and Nagar Haveli(1)

Silvasa

Daman and Diu(2)

Daman

Diu

Lakshdweep(1)

Kavaratti

Puducherry(4)

Karikal

Mahe

Pondicherry

Yeman

District Munsiff Court

District MunsiffCourt (alternate spelling District Munsif Court) is the court of the lowest order handling matters pertaining to civil matters in India. Usually it is controlled by theDistrict Court of the respective district. The District Munsif Court is authorised to try matters pertaining to certain pecuniary limits. The State Government notifies the pecuniary limits for the District Munsiff Courts.The current pecuniary limits are from Rs.1000 up to Rs.5000.

The appeal against these courts lie before the Subordinate Courts which are one rank superior to the District Munsiff Courts but are inferior to the District court. The State Government’s Gazette notification prescribes the territorial jurisdiction of the District Munsiff Court. Usually, a District Munsiff Court will have four to seven firkas over which they can decide the disputes. A District Munsiff is the judge and presiding officer of the District Munsiff Court.

Sessions Court

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Criminal procedure

Criminal trials and convictions

Rights of the accused

· Fair trial

· Speedy trial

· Jury trial

· Counsel

· Presumption of innocence

· Exclusionary rule

· Self-incrimination

· Double jeopardy

Verdict

· Conviction

· Acquittal

· Not proven

· Directed verdict

Sentencing

· Mandatory

· Suspended

· Custodial

· Discharge

· Guidelines

· Totality

· Dangerous offender

· Capital punishment

· Execution warrant

· Cruel and unusual punishment

· Life imprisonment

· Indefinite imprisonment

Post-sentencing

· Parole

· Probation

· Tariff

· Life licence

· Miscarriage of justice

· Exoneration

· Pardon

· Sex offender registration

· Sexually violent predator legislation

Related areas of law

· Criminal defenses

· Criminal law

· Evidence

· Civil procedure

Portals

· Law

· Criminal justice

· US courts

· Not in English/Welsh courts

· Scottish courts

· English/Welsh courts

· Canadian courts

· UK courts

A Sessions Court is a court of law which exists in several Commonwealth countries.

Contents

1India

2Malaysia

India

Judiciary of India

Law of India

Administration

Civil courts

Criminal courts

Executive Court

Legal profession

Legal education

District court is referred to as sessions court when it exercises its jurisdiction on criminal matters under Code of Criminal procedure (CrPc)

As per section 9 of CrPc, the court is established by the State Government for every sessions division. The court is presided over by a Judge, appointed by the High Court of that particular state. The High Court may also appoint Additional Sessions Judges and Assistant Sessions Judges in this court. In Indian cities, the Sessions Court is responsible for adjudicating matters related to criminal cases. The court is responsible for cases relating to murders, theft, dacoity, pick-pocketing and other such cases.

In Mumbai (Bombay) there are three courts, the main one being in the Kala Ghoda region of South Mumbai second at Sewree in south Mumbai and the third in Dindoshi in the Suburban area of Goregaon.[2]

Sessions court has the power to impose the full range of penalties for criminal acts, including the death penalty.

Originally, the Sessions Courts heard each case continuously in sessions and delivered judgements immediately on completion of arguments. Hence the name ‘Sessions Court’ meant that the cases would be disposed off expeditiously. One of the important reasons for delays in the Indian Judicial System, is that the concept of ‘Sessions’ is observed only in breach due to repeated adjournments, loop holes in the case papers and backlog of cases. The Government of India has not found a solution to this endemic problem.

Malaysia

Somewhat like the former Quarter Sessions in England, but does not exceed RM1,000,000 as per ss 65(1)(b), 73(b), 93(1) of the Subordinate Courts Act 1948 (SCA). The exception however is in matters relating to motor vehicle accidents, landlord and tenant and distress, where the Sessions Courts have unlimited jurisdiction pursuant to s 65(1)(a)SCA. Also, by virtue of s 65(3) SCA, the parties to a legal action may enter into an agreement in writing to grant jurisdiction to the Sessions Court to try an action beyond its prescribed monetary jurisdiction aforesaid.

Delhi High Court

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The High Court of Delhi (Hindi: दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय, IAST: dillī ucca nyāyālaya) was established on 31 October 1966. The High Court of Delhi was established with four judges. They were Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. K. Kapur.

Contents

1History

2Backlog

3Chief Justices

4Subordinate Courts Of Delhi High Court

History

On 21 March 1919, the High Court of Judicature at Lahore was established with jurisdiction over the provinces of Punjab and Delhi. This jurisdiction lasted till 1947 when India was partitioned.

The High Courts (Punjab) Order, 1947 established a new High Court for the province of East Punjab with effect from 15 August 1947. The India (Adaptation of Existing Indian Laws) Order, 1947 provided that any reference in an existing Indian law to the High Court of Judicature at Lahore be replaced by a reference to the High Court of East Punjab.

The High Court of East Punjab started functioning from Shimla in a building called “Peterhoff”. This building burnt down in January, 1981.

When the Secretariat of the Punjab Government shifted to Chandigarh in 1954-55, The High Court also shifted to Chandigarh. The High Court of Punjab, as it later came to be called, exercised jurisdiction over Delhi through a Circuit Bench which dealt with the cases pertaining to the Union Territory of Delhi and the Delhi Administration.[1]

In view of the importance of Delhi, its population and other considerations, the Indian Parliament, by enacting the Delhi High Court Act, 1966, established the High Court of Delhi effective from 31 October 1966. By virtue of Section 3(1) of the Delhi High Court Act, the Central Government was empowered to appoint a date by a notification in the official gazette, establishing a High Court for the Union Territory of Delhi. The appointed date was 31 October 1966.

The High Court of Delhi initially exercised jurisdiction not only over the Union Territory of Delhi, but also Himachal Pradesh. The High Court of Delhi had a Himachal Pradesh Bench at Shimla in a building called Ravenswood. The High Court of Delhi continued to exercise jurisdiction over Himachal Pradesh until the State of Himachal Pradesh Act, 1970 came into force on 25 January 1971.

Backlog

As per the report released on 2006-08, Delhi High court has a long list of pending cases.The backlog is such that it would take 466 years to resolve them.In a bid to restore public trust and confidence, Delhi court spent 5 minutes per case and disposed of 94,000 cases in 2008-10.

Chief JusticesJustice K. S. Hegde (31 October 1966 – 17 July 1967)

JusticeM K M Ismail (25 May 1967 – 13 November 1967)

Justice D. Dua (17 July 1967 – 1 August 1969)

Justice R. Khanna (1 August 1969 – 22 September 1971)

JusticeHardayal Hardy (22 September 1971 – 15 May 1972)

JusticeNarain Andley (15 May 1972 – 4 June 1974)

Justice V. R. Tatachari (4 June 1974 – 16 October 1978)

Justice S. Deshpande (16 October 1978 – 27 March 1980)

JusticePrakash Narain (8 January 1981 – 6 August 1985)

JusticeRajinder Sachar (6 August 1985 – 22 December 1985)

Justice K. Kapur (22 December 1985 – 20 August 1986)

JusticeP.S. Chawla (20 August 1986 – 16 August 1987)

Justice N. Aggarwal (16 August 1987 – 21 August 1987)

JusticeYogeshwar Dayal (21 August 1987 – 18 March 1988)

JusticeRabindranath Pyne (18 March 1988 – 28 September 1990)

JusticeMilap Chand Jain (28 November 1990 – 21 July 1991)

Justice C. Mittal (5 August 1991 – 4 March 1994)

Justice Jagannadha Rao (12 April 1994 – 21 March 1997)

JusticeMahinder Narain (21 March 1997 – 30 December 1999)

JusticeSam Nariman Variava (31 December 1999 – 15 March 2000)

JusticeArijit Pasayat (10 May 2000 – 19 October 2001)

JusticeB. Sinha (26 November 2001 – 1 October 2002)

Justice C. Patel (5 March 2003 – 7 August 2005)

JusticeMarkandey Katju (12 October 2005 – 10 April 2006)

JusticeMukundakam Sharma (4 December 2006 – 9 April 2008)

JusticeAjit Prakash Shah (11 May 2008 – 12 February 2010)

JusticeDipak Misra (24 May 2010 – 10 October 2011)

JusticeD Murugesan (26 September 2012 – 10 June 2013)

JusticeBadar Durrez Ahmed (Acting) (10 June 2013 – 1 September 2013)

Justice V. Ramana (2 September 2013 – 16 February 2014)

JusticeBadar Durrez Ahmed (Acting) (17 February 2014 – 20 April 2014)

Justice Rohini (21 April 2014 – )

Subordinate Courts Of Delhi High Court

Today, the National Capital Territory of Delhi has six District Courts that function under the Delhi High Court:

Tis Hazari Courts Complex, established 1958

Patiala House Courts Complex, established 1977

KarkardoomaCourts Complex, established 1993

RohiniCourts Complex, established 2005

DwarkaCourts Complex, established 2008

SaketCourts Complex, established 2010The above are six physical locations of the district courts, whereas actually there are eleven district courts headed by individual District Judges. The Tis Hazari complex Rohini complex and Saket complex hosts two districts each the Karkarddoma complex hosts three districts and the remaining complexes host one district court each.

Courts of Judicial Magistrate of First Class

Judiciary of India

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Executive Court

Legal profession

Legal education

Courts of Judicial Magistrate of First Class are at the second lowest level of the Criminal Court structure in India. According to the Section 11 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPc), a Court of Judicial Magistrate of First Class may be established by the State Government in consultation with the High Court of the respective state at such places in the district and in any number by a notification.

According to Section 15 of the CrPc, a judicial magistrate is under the general control of the Sessions Judge and is subordinate to the Chief Judicial Magistrate.

According to Section 29 of the CrPc., a Judicial Magistrate of First Class may pass a sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or of fine not exceeding five thousand rupees or of both.

Courts of Judicial Magistrate of Second Class

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Judiciary of India

Administration

Civil courts

Criminal courts

Executive Court

Legal profession

Legal education

Courts of Judicial Magistrate of Second Class are at the lowest hierarchy of the Criminal Court structure in India. According to the Section 11 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPc), a Court of Judicial Magistrate of Second Class may be established by the State Government in consultation with the High Court of the respective state at such places in the district and in any number by a notification.

According to Section 29(3) of the CrPC., a Judicial Magistrate of Second Class may pass a sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or of fine not exceeding Five thousand rupees, or of both.

A Judicial Magistrate of Second Class cannot entertain a Prayer for Police Remand while hearing for police files. If the police remand prayer is received, the same must be kept reserved and the case record must immediately be sent to Judicial Magistrate 1st Class.

A Judicial Magistrate can try such offences which is triable by either “Any Magistrate” or “Judicial Magistrate 2nd Class” as enshrined in the Schedule I & II of the Cr.PC.

Generally, the post for Judicial Magistrate 2nd Class is to be held for 6 months by the newly inducted officers unless the concered Hon’ble High Court of a State pleased to seem fit to reduce or increase the time period of 6 months.

A production Warrant issued by a Judicial Magistrate 2nd Class must be countersigned by the Chief Judicial Magistrate as per Section 267 Cr.PC